Improvement in engine-lathe



o i l l @i v v I i f Genital tant anni (Bitti/1e. ,s

ANDREW E. VHITMORE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN` ENGINE-LATER Thechedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To all to who'm. these presents shall come:

Be itknown that I, ANDREW E. Wm'rMon-E, of Bos-V ton, in the county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have made an invention of a new and useful Improvementlu Engine-Lathes ;v and do hereby declare the'followingf to be a full, clear, and exact description jthereof, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and irl Which- Figure 1' is a plan,`and

Figure 2, a vertical central and longitudinal section of my improvement, as applied to the'head-stockof an `engine-lathe.

Figure 3, a side elevation ofthe spindle and clutches, to be hereinafter described.

Figure 4 is a transverseseotion of the same.

'This invention relates to means for instantaneously' changing the speed of the arbor of an engine-lathegvithout the necessity, as has heretofore been necessary, of stopping the revolution or running of the lathe, to accomplish it. y It is, of com'se, well known to all machinists, and

most mechanics, that it becomes necessary often, and,

in someclasses of work, manytimes a day, to change the speed of a lathe from fast to slow, or cioe versa, as .thecasemay be, according as the lathe maybe employed either for turning metal, which requires a slow rate of speed, or for polishing or finishing such metal, when a more rapid revolution is necessary. In engine-lathes, as

heretofore constructedfthis changing of speed has been j. a. matter of considerable annoyance, as well as expend iture of time, as the motions of the lathe must first be stopped, and the change effected by the us'e of a wrench,

in the hands of the workman, several semi-revolutions of the pulley and -arbor of the lathe being necessary to adjust the parts.

The general chalactemstics ofthe head-stock to which my invention applied are the same as in ordinary engine-lathes; that is to say, an arbor is employed, pro vided with a driving-pulley, and with a trainjof dilfe'rential gears, substantially as in ordinary lathes, as will be uudrstoodby machinists in general, and .to whom further ,description of the ordinary head-stock and its accompaniments will not be necessary.

My invention consists in applying the large gear of the arbor, .in Vanindcpendent manner thereto, and in providing such gear, or its inner hub, with a scrnifclutch,

to act at intervals in connection with anintermediate or central clutch, applied to a rod sliding within the bore of the -arbor, such clutch sliding longitudinally upon the periphery of the arbor,.but revolving with it, and acting in connection with a second semi-clutch, iixed to yor making part of the small gearof the arbor, and disposed concentrlcally about the periphery of such arbor, in manner to he explained, thc alrangement of parts being such, that, upon pushing the clutch-rod inward, the large gear is coupled to the arbor, and revolves with and drivessuch 'arbor ata reduced rate of speed, while, upon drawing out suchv rod, the connection of the large gear with the arbor is released, and the central clutch locked into connection with the small gear and the pulley, by which means an increased rate of speed is produced, the central clutch, when standing at an intermediatepoint between the two semi-clutches,

ceasing to actuate-eithcr; the construction and operation of the whole being hereinafter referred to and explained.

Reference being had to the accompanying drawings, before mentioned as illustrating my invention, it will be seen that A denotesv the head-stock of an enginelathe,:of which a is the frame, b, the arbor, c, the pulley, d, the pulley-gear, e, the spindle-gear, and fig, the back diii'eiential gears, applied to the frame by a shaft, lt the above-described arrangement of parts being substantially the same as in engine-lathes of ordinary construction.

Incarrying out my invention, I apply the larger or spindle-gear e, to the spindle or arbor b, in such manner that it shall revolve and slide freely thereon, ex cept at such times as itmay be locked thereto, as here'- inafter explained, a collar, t, being fixed to the arbor, between one of its supporting-boxes, j 7c, and the'gear, to prevent misplacement of the latter.

The gears has a hub, l, extending inward from it, such hub having va female semi-clutch, m, formed upon its inner end, as represented.

The pulley-gear, as it is termed. by mechanics, is shown at f as aixed'to or making part of the pulley of the latter, such pulley being shown at c, in the drawings, as before stated.

The interior 'of the pulley c is hollow or chambered, as shown at p in the drawings, in order to receive looselythe clutches of the device, the rear, or outer end, or bottom of such chamber pbeingt'ormed with afemale semiclutch, q, similar in size and construction to the semiclntch m before mentioned. Furthermore, a sleeve, fr, encompasses the arbor b,

and slides loosely thereon, such sleeve having notches' upon each end, corresponding in size and position with those of the semi-clutches 'm and q, and, by this means, being converted into the central looking-portion, or male clutch, of the device, it being disposed between the said semi-clutches as shown,the space between such clutches being considerably longer than-'thc extreme length of the said .central clutch.

'lhe arbor b, nearly or quite its entire length, is tu bnlar, as shown at t, and within this bore, from its rear end, is extended a -rod orstem,a, such rod being xed to the tubular sleeve fr, before mentioned, a spline or bar, v, extending from such sleeve into and through slots w made through opposite sides of the arbor, and communicating with its bore, and being of such a disposition and length with respect thereto as t'o permit of free-sliding movemcntsof the sleeve upon the srbor, between the semi-clutches m and q. before men--A tioned, at the same time causing the sleeve to revolve with the arbor.

It may be well to call the readers attention to the fact that the end of thedriving-pulley c,'next adjacent to the spindle-gear e, is closed by a disk, y.

When it becomes uecessaryto detach a chuck orfaceplate, which may be at the time screwed upon the arbor', a pin is to be inserted within holes 'af b made through the gear e and the said disk y,'in alignment withieach- 'a lever, c', pivoted at its rear end to the frame of the head-stock, and swivelled to the rod n by a ball-andsocket or other suitable joint or. connection.

It will be obvious that upon pushing-therod n inward to its greatest extent of movement, the central clutch'or sleeve-fr will be caused to slidelongitudinally uponthe arbor, and locked to the larger or spindle-gear e by its clutch m, and consequently detached from connectio with the pulley-clutch, thus, by means of the dierential back gears fand g, causing a slow or greatlyreduced rate of 'speed of the arbor, Vcompared with that of the pulley which at this time is driving. it.

Vice versa, by pulling the rod nroutwar'ds to its extreme limit, the central clutch lr will be locked to the semi-clutch q, and consequently to the pulley c,

'and-its'gear cl,- thus allowing 'the said gear d; to rotate the back gears fand g, without any effect upon the ar# bor, as thel gear e, at this time, is free, and rotating loosely about such arbor, and allowing it to be revolved by and at the same rate of speed with the pulley, or

by the last-mentioned condition of parts.

Although not herein represented, the head-stock is to be provided with the usual means of entirely disconnecting the back gears f and g from the pulley-gear when the arbor is to be driven directlylby the pulley,

it being, of' course, understood that the object of reducing the rate of speed ofthe arbor, by means of the said gears fand g, is to increase thepower over such ar or.. v

The foregoing description will enable mechanics of general acquirements to construct and use my invention. v

Such persons will appreciate the value of the invention, allowing, as it does, the speed of the lathe to be instantaneously, and with very little efort, varied, as occasion requires, witho'ut cessation of its rotation. In any establishment employinga large number of workmen, this economy of time will be found'a matter of great value. y

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, as follows:

'In 'a head-stock, such as described, I claim the combination, with the4 driving-pulley and pulley-gcar, the spindlegear e, and the differential gearing, of the tubular spindle b, the half clutches m and q, formed on the gears d'and e respectively,- the sliding clutch r, and the vWitnesses: i y

FRED. CURTIS', EDWARD GRIFFITH.'

ata greatly-increased rate of speed over that allowed rod n, connected 'with and perating said clutch, and v 

